Rotary sprinklers



June 20, 1961 D. o. NORLAND 2,989,248

ROTARY SPRINKLERS Filed Sept. 28, 1959 I VENTOR. /w/zz 0. aez/swa 2,989,248 ROTARY SPRINKLERS Daniel 0. Norland, 5632 E. Lincoln St., Cypress, Calif. Filed Sept. 28, 1959, Ser. No. 842,625 Claims. (Cl. 239-230) This invention relates to rotary sprinklers and more particularly to a sprinkler of the hammer and anvil type. In general, it may be said that rotary lawn sprinklers are divided into three general types. In one type, one or more water-carrying arms depart radially from the hub .31

of the sprinkler head and then are bent so as t'o discharge at angles to the radii of departure. This causes a jet eifect propelling the arms in the direction opposite to that in which they discharge. In a second type, a streamof water is directed against a disk having striations or ridges, caus- 2 ing the disk to revolve rapidly. The disk is unbalanced and the imbalance produces torque, causing the sprinkler head to revolve slowly. This second type waters more slowly and thoroughly and closer to the sprinkler than the first type but because of its dependence upon vibration it may be so retarded by sand or cut grass blades that it loses efficiency.

The third type also has a water-propelled disk but in this instance a hammer is swung centrifugally by the disk against an anvil, the impact causing the sprinkler head to revolve through a short angle. It is with this third type that this invention is concerned.

Various means have been devised in the past for getting the hammer beyond the anvil after it has struck there against, one such means being shown in my Patent 2,862,- 763, December .2, 1958. With the hammer revolving in a horizontal orbit and with an anvil placed within that orbit, it has been considered that the hammer must come to a full stop and then must pass the anvil by shifting its horizontal plane to a plane either above or below the anvil. The shift in the level of the hammer orbit has required the use of cams, or hinges, or other devices adding to the weight and the cost of the apparatus and detracting from its reliability; while the full stop of the hammer and of the rotating disk carrying the hammer has required a powerful impact of water to bring the disk in -a single revolution up to the necessary speed for centrifugal action of the hammer.

It is an object of this invention to provide novel, silent, and positive hammer means for causing a rotary sprinkler to rotate.

A further object of this invention is to provide hammer means so constructed that rotation of the driving disk is not entirely stopped while the hammer strikes upon and then passes the anvil, the resultant saving in momentum permitting the sprinkler to operate at less than usual wator-pressure.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a hammer which operatm entirely in a single plane and therefore needs no lifting cams or other comparable and expensive devices for its operation.

Another object of this invention is to provide a hammer having no wearing surfaces in its mounting and therefore not affected by sand or other foreign materials.

Specifically it is an object of this invention to provide a coiled hammer which springs outward under the influence of centrifugal force but coils inward when its rotational velocity is reduced.

In the accompanying drawing, illustrative of a form of my invention, FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a sprinkler;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view showing the driving disk and hammer and anvil, the hammer being shown as in repose;

FIG. 3 is a similar plan view showing the hammer centrifugally actuated so as to strike upon the anvil and to 2,989,248 Patented June 20, 196:1

2- produce the notation of the sprinkler head indicated by the arrows; and 5 FIG; 4 is a vertical sectional view of the FIG; 1. I

Referring now to the details of the drawing, mmy sprinkler head 6 is connected to a water conduit] by a nut 8. A nipple 9, secured in the head 6, rotates freely within the nut 8. The nipple 9 supplies water from the conduit 7 to a passage 10 which has its outlet in a jet nozzle 11; The jet nozzle 11 and-passage 10 are carried line 4--4 of by one arm 12 of the two-armed head 6, the other armil3- being-a counter-balancing am. p

' Uponj one sideof the arm 12 (see FIG. 4) a post-14 is pivotally mounted on a'pivot bolt- 15. Threaded intothe post. 14: is one arm 17 of an-anvil 16. Above them 17, the anvil 16 is bent at right angles horizontally and then bent down again in a depending vertical arm 18. R0- tatably mounted on the arm 17 is a sleeve 19 having the post 14 as one end bearing and a washer 20 and fixed sleeve 21 as an end hearing at its upper end. The sleeve 19 carries threadedly secured thereto a driving disk 22 which has ridges 23 on its under side. By means of the pivot bolt 15, the axis of the disk 22 (i.e. the arm 17 of the anvil) can be swung so as to bring the ridges 23 more or less into the stream of water emerging from the nozzle 11, and thereby to obtain greater or lesser impact of water upon the disk and greater or lesser speed of rotation of the disk.

Except for the use of the anvil arm 17 as a bearing for the sleeve 19 and the disk 22, the foregoing described structure contains nothing new to the art, the novelty of my invention residing principally in the hammer structure about to be described.

A hammer 25 of coiled spring material is mounted upon the sleeve 19 just above the disk 22 so as to rotate there'- with. The hammer 25 has a head portion 26 at the outer end of a coiled portion 27 which is coiled around the sleeve 19 and secured thereto. As shown, the hammer 25 is entirely of rubber and the means of securing it to the sleeve 19 is by a rubber collar 28 which fits tightly upon the sleeve 19. Obviously, the hammer 25 may equally well be of metal, with a metallic head, a metal spring coil, and a metallic collar. However the rubber construction is inexpensive, it is all in one piece, cut from a small piece of rubber, and it operates silently and practically without wear.

Counterbalancing the hammer 25 is a weight 30 on the upper side of the disk 22. Such weights are now conventional in impact-type sprinkler heads.

In operation, when water emerges from the nozzle 11 and strikes the disk 22, the disk revolves and the hammer head portion 26 tends to swing outward by centrifugal force. The outward swinging of the head 26 is permitted resiliently by the coiled portion 27, and the head swings into an orbit in which is included the anvil arm 18. When the head 26 strikes the anvil arm 18, the head is momentarily retarded and the coiled portion 27 coils inwardly, pulling the head inward and permitting the head to pass by the anvil arm 18. It will be clear that the head does not change planes; it merely recoils inwardly. As its mounting is resilient, its impact upon the anvil arm 18 does not stop rotation of the disk 22 but only momentarily retards it, and a great part of the momentum of the combined disk, hammer, and sleeve 19 is retained and the speed of rotation is largely continued. Because of this continued speed, the sprinkler operates satisfactorily on a water jet of less pressure and force than the jets required to operate those sprinklers which stop completely at each impact of the hammer and then must regain speed from a stand-still.

I claim:

1. In a rotary sprinkler having an anvil and a hammer and means rotating independently of rotation of said r 2,989,248 I r sprinkler for swinging said hammer against said anvil to cause rotation of said sprinkler, a mounting for said hammer comprising a coil of resilient material having its inner end secured to said rotating means to be swung centrifugallyth'ereby and having the head of said hammer at its outer end.

' In a rotary' sprinkler having an anvil and rotating means for swinging a hammer against said anvil to cause rotation of said sprinkler, a mounting for said hammer comprising a coil of resilient rubber having its inner end secured to said rotatingmeans and having the head of said hammer at its outer end.

'3. In a rotary sprinkler having an anvil and means rotating independently of rotation of said sprinkler for swinging a hammer against said anvil to cause rotation of said sprinkler, a hammer having a rubber head and having a coil of resilient material connecting said head to said rotating means to be swung centrifugally thereby.

4. In a rotary sprinkler having an anvil and rotating meansfor swinging a hammer against said anvil to cause 20 rotation of said sprinkler, a hammer having a striking portion and a coil connecting said striking portion to said rotating means, said striking portion and said coil being integral and of resilient rubber material.

5. In a rotary sprinkler, a disk for rotation by impingement of a jet of water, a post on which said disk is journalled, a hammer having a head and having a handle por tion secured centrally to said disk for rotation therewith, said handle portion being of resilient material and being coiled about said post so as to permit the head of said hammer to swing outwardly centrifugally when said disk is rotated and to retract inwardly when said head hits an obstruction, said post being bent over to provide an anvil in the orbit of said hammer head.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,310,796 Lappin Feb. 9, 1943 

